Why you should become an AWS Community Builder: my experience

The AWS Community Builders program application is now open! Everyone can apply, and if you meet the requirements, you can take part in this incredible journey.

The program #

First things first: The AWS Community Builders program is a global initiative designed to support tech enthusiasts who share knowledge, are passionate about learning, and love engaging with like-minded individuals.

You should apply if you truly want to help others and be part of a community where you can feel safe expressing your ideas. It is a place to learn constantly, where our differences are exactly what allow us to learn from each other.

Program Benefits #

There are plenty of benefits. Some give you tangible goods, but others are less tangible and, in my opinion, far more important.

You will get:

• Swag, of course!
• A Slack workspace shared with other Builders, AWS Heroes, and Service teams. It has dedicated channels for specific topics and is the best place to connect outside the LinkedIn world.
• Dedicated video sessions about service updates, previews, and news (often under NDA). During these sessions, you can interact with and provide feedback directly to the service teams.
• AWS Credits, so you can experiment and learn on your own.
• A free certification exam voucher to test your knowledge.
• Access to the QA Academy.
• A dedicated dev.to publishing space.
• Access to side programs (like AWS New Voices, more on that later).
• Networking opportunities and dedicated lounges during re:Invent.
• Access to services in preview.
• Discounts on re:Invent tickets.
• A Slack channel with all the recent service launches and announcements (a great companion to the unofficial AWS news feed).

I may be forgetting something, but these are the things that helped me the most during my first two years in the program.

Requirements #

To join, you must actively contribute to the community. This can be through content (blog posts, talks, YouTube videos, open source contributions) and active participation in events (AWS User Groups, Meetups, Community Days).

The main focus is to prioritize quality over quantity. Low-effort or purely AI-generated articles won’t help you stand out. My advice is to take your time. Think about what you want to share: Is it valuable? Is it worth the effort of writing? If you enjoy writing and sharing knowledge, you’ll find that getting accepted into the program is a natural consequence of your passion, and it is not as hard as it seems.

However, remember that this program is more than just swag, credits, and benefits, or a tool for personal branding or career advancement. It is an opportunity for mutual growth, sharing experiences, building connections, and staying up to date with the cloud world, latest news, and technology.

If you genuinely enjoy helping the community, recognition will come naturally. The community is a healthy place, and keeping it a safe, welcoming environment is a collective effort.

I will share with you my experience and what 2025 brought me, as an example of what being a Community Builder (CB) can be.

My Experience #

How it started #

I had never written articles in my previous jobs, but I was lucky to join beSharp, where the technical blog is curated by the whole staff. I gave it a shot and immediately enjoyed the experience.

At the same time, I started attending AWS User Groups. I live in Pavia (near Milan), and when my city’s User Group was founded, I joined immediately. Over time, I got more involved and started helping to organize sessions.

I have to thank Luca Ballista, Davide De Sio, and Simone Merlini for their efforts as User Group Leaders. It’s always a pleasure to help them and participate.

The Lesson: Even when turnout isn’t high, quality is what matters. If you talk with people, exchange opinions, or help someone struggling with a technical issue, that evening was not lost because you gave value to people and to the community.

First talk #

In 2023, I had a simple personal goal: to start public speaking. I had my first experience during the AWS Community Day in Rome. It was scary at first, and looking back, I don’t think I delivered something excellent, but it was a start. Most importantly, I loved it.

CB Application #

In 2024, I applied for the program and was accepted. The application process wasn’t scary because I didn’t have to “prepare”: I was already meeting the prerequisites naturally. Although it took some time to orient myself with all the new opportunities, I kept participating, writing, and speaking at User Groups and conferences.

AWS New Voices program and public speaking #

In 2025, I had the amazing opportunity to join the AWS New Voices program. It was a series of lessons led by Meredith Grundei aimed at increasing comfort in public speaking and delivering high-quality talks.

After gaining confidence and practicing, I applied for several events. I’ll let the images do the talking:

AWS Summit Milan - June #

This year, my speech was accepted for the Community Lounge at the AWS Summit in Milan, and it was amazing:

Later, with the AWS User Group Pavia, we did a nice Summit Re:Cap on the river. We shared the “behind the scenes” of being a sponsor, and thanks to Catalin Borsan and Francesco Bertani from AWS, we got their perspective on organizing such a massive event.

Community Day Adria - September #

After the summer break, I had the pleasure of traveling to Sarajevo for Community Day Adria, where I gave a speech in collaboration with Alma Beganovich. Dzenan Dzevlan, Dzenana Dzevlan, and many others made this possible—it was a great event!

Additionally, I had the incredible opportunity to meet Jeff Barr and Sheen Brisals in person and chat with them during my visit. Unforgettable!

I thought I was done with events for the year, but then the amazing Davide De Paolis reached out asking if I wanted to co-speak on his talk: Serverless vs Kubernetes.

Community Day NL - October #

I didn’t realize at first that the speech was in Utrecht for AWS Community Day Netherlands! We rehearsed online and did our final preparation while visiting the city (over a beer, of course).

Presenting inside an actual cinema was an awesome experience!

While there, I also had the opportunity to chat with Rudy Chetti, Ian Cui, and many other people Ihadn’t had the chance to meet in Sarajevo.

ContainerDay Bologna - November #

After a few flights, it was time to head back home for Container Day. Grusp did an awesome job gathering such a highly skilled community. The questions after my talk were challenging, and it was a pleasure to see such deep interest.

Cloud Day Milano - December #

Last but not least, I covered a talk at Cloud Day when a speaker had to decline. So there I was!

AWS User Groups #

Other than public speaking, this year was great for the Pavia and Milan communities. We hosted a lot of events. Here’s a quick summary:

• March: Kick-Off, AWS User Group Pavia
• April: Community Kick-Off, AWS User Group Milano
• May: Open-LLM Meetup (Milano), Open-Mic Night (Pavia), and the first meetup for AWS User Group Cuneo!
• June: AWS Summit Milan re:Cap, AWS User Group Pavia
• October: Security and Data meetup at NeN, AWS User Group Milano
• November: Amazon Q Developer Coding Challenge, AWS User Group Pavia (great technical challenge, pizza, and beers!)
• December:
  • Matt Garman’s Keynote from re:Invent (Livestreaming with commentary featuring Andrea Saltarello and User Groups from Milano, Pavia, Genova, Roma, Calabria, and Canton Ticino).
  • AWS User Group Milano AI recap with Danilo Poccia!

More events! #

I was also at Incontro DevOps Italia in March (organized by Grusp), Serverless Day Milano, and the AWS PartnerEquip event in London.

Why you should apply #

Every month brought something new. I met amazing people, and I feel enriched.

You don’t need to spend so much time as a Community Builder; it’s not mandatory, and it’s certainly not a full-time job. But if you have the opportunity and time, you’ll find that sharing knowledge and meeting people is quite addictive!

I had a great 2025, and I’m excited to see what 2026 has in store (spoiler alert: on January 9th, I will participate in a real-life Ask-Me-Anything for the .NET Community Turin).

If you feel you’re already doing these activities, apply for the program. If you are uncertain, consider joining a local AWS User Group and start participating. I guarantee you’ll have great experiences!